Anita_Rios

2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Ohio


The 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich won reelection to a second term in office by a landslide over Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. Primary elections were held on May 6, 2014.

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Despite FitzGerald's massive defeat, he is as of 2023 the last Democrat to carry the historically Democratic Monroe County, which voted for Republican candidate Mike DeWine four years later. Kasich's landslide victory gave him the highest percentage of the vote since George Voinovich's win in 1994, a large improvement from his narrow victory in 2010. As of 2022, this was the last time the counties of Cuyahoga and Franklin voted for the Republican candidate.

Background

Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced considerable backlash from the movement. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid, his increased spending, taxation of fracking on Ohio farmland and perceived failure to go far enough on charter schools and school vouchers caused Tea Party groups to refuse to support his campaign.[1] When Kasich passed over Tea Party leader Tom Zawistowski for the position of Executive Director of the Ohio Republican Party in favor of Matt Borges, who worked with a gay rights group, that was widely seen as the last straw.[2] Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee. Zawistowski said, "John Kasich is going to lose in 2014. We don't care who else wins."[3] Ultimately, Kasich was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

  • Donald Allen, veterinarian and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010[5][6]
    • Running mate: Kelly Kohls, education activist and Chair of the Warren County Tea Party[5]
  • Ted Stevenot, president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition[7]

Results

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Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Results

Results by county:
  FitzGerald—80–90%
  FitzGerald—70–80%
  FitzGerald—60–70%
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Green primary

Candidates

Declared

Disqualified

  • Dennis Spisak, perennial candidate (failed to gather enough valid signatures)[22][23][24]
    • Running mate: Suzanne Patzer, information technology supervisor[12]

Results

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Libertarian primary

Charlie Earl gathered enough raw signatures to obtain ballot access.[22] However, he was removed from the ballot because technical faults in collection rendered many of his signatures invalid. The decision was appealed in federal court.[25]

Candidates

Disqualified

  • Charlie Earl, former Republican State Representative[26]
    • Running mate: Sherry Clark, newspaper publisher[27]

General election

Campaign

FitzGerald released a plan for state-funded universal preschool in addition to announcing his support for gay marriage.[28] He criticized Kasich for signing into law income tax cuts that save larger sums of money for wealthier Ohioans than poorer ones, while increasing sales taxes, which tax a larger percentage of income from poorer Ohioans than from wealthier ones.[29] FitzGerald also chided Kasich for a lack of transparency at JobsOhio, the privatized economic development agency that Kasich formed,[30][31][32] and for signing into law bills that cut early voting days and limit the distribution of absentee ballot applications.[33][34] FitzGerald faced several scandals that damaged his candidacy, most notably the revelations that he had driven for several years without a valid driver's license, him being found in a car late at night with a woman who was not his wife, and that his initial running mate, State Sen. Eric Kearney, owed over $1 million in unpaid taxes. Additionally, FitzGerald consistently trailed Kasich in fundraising throughout the entire campaign.[35]

Endorsements

Predictions

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Polling

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Hypothetical polling
  • ^ Polling for the Ohio Democratic Party

Results

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Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Kasich won 14 of 16 congressional districts, including 2 districts that lean strongly Democratic.[60]

More information District, Kasich ...

References

  1. Terkel, Amanda (March 11, 2013). "John Kasich Faces Tea Party Protest Over Medicaid Decision". HuffPost. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  2. Green, Justin (May 6, 2013). "Why Does the Tea Party Want to Let Democrats Run Ohio?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  3. Freedlander, David (September 4, 2013). "Ohio Republican Party Goes to War With Itself, Leaving 2016 in Doubt". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  4. Vardon, Joe (November 8, 2012). "Kasich focused on his own re-election bid". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  5. Pelzer, Jeremy (January 13, 2014). "Another tea party-backed candidate mulls run for Ohio governor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  6. Thompson, Chrissie (January 30, 2014). "Tea party has no challenger for Kasich after all". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  7. Casey Weldon. "Tea party activist Ted Stevenot won't challenge Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Republican primary". WCPO. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  8. "Ohio Decides 2014". Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  9. Henry J. Gomez (February 6, 2014). "Who is Larry Ealy? Ohio Politics Roundup". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  10. Henry J. Gomez (February 18, 2014). "Larry Ealy, little-known Democrat from Dayton, talks about his campaign for governor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  11. Joe Vardon (May 1, 2014). "Ex-stripper running for Ohio governor opens up about past". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  12. Jim Provance (February 2, 2014). "FitzGerald might have competition". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  13. Gomez, Henry J. (April 24, 2013). "Cuyahoga County executive Ed FitzGerald announces bid for Ohio governor". The Blade. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  14. Joe Vardon. "Ed FitzGerald names Sharen Neuhardt as running mate". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  15. Schultheis, Emily (December 30, 2013). "Ohio governor race 2014: 2nd Democrat to go for seat". POLITICO. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  16. Gomez, Henry J. (January 8, 2013). "Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to pass on rematch with John Kasich". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  17. Eaton, Sabrina (March 15, 2013). "Rep. Tim Ryan decides to skip gubernatorial bid". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  18. Gomez, Henry J. (March 22, 2013). "Former Rep. Betty Sutton will not run for governor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  19. Collins, Kathleen (February 27, 2014). "Write-in candidates file for Primary, state issue added to ballot". Akron Ohio News. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  20. "Ohio Green Dennis Spisak announces gubernatorial run". Green Party of Ohio. November 24, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  21. Vardon, Joe (February 19, 2014). "Larry Ealy qualifies for ballot setting up Democratic gubernatorial primary". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  22. Joe Vardon. "Libertarians angry at GOP while acknowledging faults". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  23. McAvoy, John (September 6, 2013). "Earl for Ohio Governor Campaign Launch". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  24. "FitzGerald proposes $500 million universal preschool plan". The Plain Dealer. May 14, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  25. "Ed FitzGerald Calls For JobsOhio Transparency". WOSU News. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  26. "Ed FitzGerald to Enquirer: Here's my Ohio". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 21, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  27. "Kasich signs voting bills that end Golden Week and limit distribution of absentee ballots". The Plain Dealer. February 22, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  28. "Cuyahoga County". The Plain Dealer. April 9, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  29. "Endorsement: John Kasich for governor". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 21, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  30. Borchardt, Jackie (October 22, 2014). "John Kasich accepts second labor endorsement from carpenters' union". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  31. "NFIB/Ohio Supports Governor Kasich in Re-Election Bid". NFIB.com. July 8, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  32. Troy, Tom (November 15, 2013). "U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown comes to Toledo to endorse FitzGerald for governor". Toledo Blade. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  33. Drabold, Will (April 9, 2014). "Mayor Coleman endorses FitzGerald for governor". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  34. Troy, Tom (August 15, 2013). "Kaptur endorses FitzGerald in governor's race". Toledo Blade. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  35. Hart, Jason (January 6, 2014). "Ohio Democrats Enjoy Early Labor Union Endorsements". mediatrackers. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  36. Gomez, Henry J. (October 7, 2013). "Ohio AFL-CIO backs Ed FitzGerald for governor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  37. "2014 Governor Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  38. "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  39. "2014 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  40. "2014 Elections Map – 2014 Governors Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  41. Anita Rios (G)
  42. Charlie Earl (L)

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